Maryland State Archives

(Working Draft)

J. Frank Turner: Maryland Comptroller, 1884-1888

J. Frank Turner was born at King's Creek, Talbot County, on November 2, 1844, the son of Joseph Turner, Jr., and his wife, Mary Clark. Turner's father died when he was two, and his mother when he was thirteen. As a youth, Turner worked on a farm during the busy season, and attended public school in the winter until he reached the age of eighteen. (The Biographical Cyclopedia of Representative Men of Maryland and District of Columbia (Baltimore: National Biographical Publishing Co., 1879), 268.)

At eighteen, Turner secured the position of Recorder in the office of Tilghman N. Chance, Register of Wills of Talbot County. In 1864, he became Recorder in the office of Samuel T. Hopkins, Clerk of the Court for Talbot County, and in 1867, he advanced to Chief Clerk and Deputy in the Clerk of Court's office. In 1873, he ran as the Democratic candidate and was elected to the position of Clerk of the Court of Talbot County. (Biographical Cyclopedia, 268.)

Turner held the Clerk of the Court office in Talbot County for the next ten years, rising to a position of prominence in the Talbot County Democratic Party. As a Democratic leader in Easton, then the largest city on the Eastern Shore, Turner undoubtedly came into contact with the state party leaders, and in 1883, he was tapped by Arthur Pue Gorman, Democratic Party boss of the state, to run for the state Comptroller's office, a position to which he was elected in November 1883.

Turner's two terms as state Comptroller, from 1884 to 1888, marked the height of his political career. By all reports, Turner discharged his duties as fiscal officer of the state faithfully and his tenure appears to have been without controversy. Like others who held the office before and after him, he struggled to disengage the state from its unproductive investments in "works of internal improvements," particularly the C & O and the Susquehanna and Tide-Water Canals. He took particular pride in his accomplishments in reducing the state debt and improving the financial viability of the sinking funds. His last Annual Report, submitted in 1887, contained a detailed, if self-serving, synopsis of his service in office, showing, by his own estimates, a reduction in the state debt over his four-year term of $1.6 million, at the same time the investments in the sinking funds were increased almost threefold, from $500,000 in 1884 to $1.42 million in 1887. (Comptroller of the Treasury. Annual Report of the Comptroller of the Treasury Department for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 1887 to the General Assembly of Maryland (Easton, MD: Easton Star Steam Press, 1888), 19-26.)

Despite his apparent financial acumen, however, Turner could not hold the Comptroller's position beyond 1887. In the preceding years, Arthur Pue Gorman's inner circle in the Democratic Party machinery had changed to include two new faces, Elihu Jackson of Wicomico County and L. Victor Baughman of Frederick County. Jackson, an Eastern Shore lumber businessman, gave both time and money to the state Democratic Party, and had entered the political arena in the 1880s, serving in the state legislature. Baughman, the publisher of the Frederick Citizen, had been involved in state politics since the 1870s and had become a great and faithful friend of Gorman. In 1887, Baughman sought to run for governor of the state, but was convinced by Gorman to step aside in favor of Jackson, who won the nomination and consequently the governorship. Baughman was rewarded, in turn, with the Comptroller's position, which he assumed upon Turner's "retirement." (Lambert, John R. Arthur Pue Gorman (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1953), 120-122.)

Turner may have been the victim of a need to distribute prominent state offices to persons representing different sections of the state, he may not have mustered the Eastern Shore votes Gorman had hoped for, or he simply might not have risen high enough in Gorman's field of vision. The Easton Democrat, a staunchly Gormanite paper, offered another possible reason. Commenting in July 1887 on Turner's desire to retain the Comptrollership and the clash of interests this posed with Jackson--as the Governor's and the Comptroller's positions could not both be held by Eastern Shore natives--the Democrat opined that Turner was not reliable enough as a Gorman supporter: "...he is a Turner man first, and if it suits him he will do what the leaders desire; but many politicians fear that Turner cannot be counted as a "ring" man if the "ring" gets into a tight place." (Easton Democrat, July 2, 1887, p. 2.)

Upon leaving the Comptroller's office, Turner returned to Easton, was admitted to the bar despite lacking any formal training in law, and opened a law practice in partnership with ex-Governor Philip F. Thomas. ("Local News," Easton Democrat, August 13, 1887, p. 3.) For the next decade, he pursued his law practice and business and political interests. In 1890, he headed a group of businessmen who, believing Easton was ripe for tourism with the arrival of the Eastern Shore railroad, sought to build the largest hotel in town. The Hotel Avon opened in 1891, and soon monopolized local business. During the 1890s, Turner also entered the newspaper business, first as the editor and co-owner of the Easton Star, and in 1896, as the owner of the Easton Star-Democrat, created when he bought the Democrat and merged it with the Star. (Harrington, Norman. Easton Album (Easton, MD: Historical Society of Talbot County, 1986), 83, 44.)

Turner resumed political office twice after retiring from the Comptroller's office, both by appointment. In 1900, he was appointed Clerk of the Court of Appeals of Maryland to fill the unexpired term of J. Frank Ford. He ran as the Democratic candidate for the office at the next election, but was defeated by Republican Thomas Parran. In 1909, he was appointed State's Attorney for Talbot County to fill the unexpired term of Judge James Harry Covington, who had been elected to Congress. He ran for reelection as the Democratic candidate in 1912, but was defeated by his Republican opponent, Charles J. Butler. ("Death of J. Frank Turner," Denton Journal, May 13, 1916, p. 5.)

After retiring from public office, Turner devoted himself to his law practice. He died in his office on May 8, 1916, and was buried in Easton. He was survived by his wife, the former Sallie Powell Hopkins, whom he had married in 1871, and three children. ("Death of J. Frank Turner," Denton Journal.)

2001/03/02

Brief Life Chronology

November 2, 1844: Born at King's Creek, Talbot County
1850-1862: Educated in public schools, Talbot County
1862: At age 18, begins working at the office of the Register of Wills of Talbot County
1864: Appointed recorder in the office of Samuel T. Hopkins, Clerk of the Court for Talbot County
1867: Becomes Chief Clerk
1871: Marries Sallie Powell Hopkins
1873: Elected Clerk of the Court
November 1883: Elected Comptroller of Maryland; resigns Talbot County Clerkship to take state office
1884-1888: Serves as Comptroller
1888: Returns to Easton to practice law
1900: Appointed Clerk of the Court of Appeals of Maryland to fill the unexpired term of J. Frank Ford
1904: Runs for Clerk of the Court of Appeals as the Democratic candidate, but is defeated by Republican Thomas Parran
1909: Appointed by Judge Adkins as State's Attorney for Talbot County to fill the unexpired term of Judge James Harry Covington
1912: Runs for State's Attorney as Democratic candidate, but is defeated by Republican Charles J. Butler
May 8, 1916: Dies at Easton, Talbot County